CBA President Yao Ming Wants Two National Teams

Yao Ming during his election as the new president of the CBA. (Photo : Twitter)

New Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) President Yao Ming wants to create two national teams as part of the preparations for future competitions.

Double the chance

Yao unveiled the plan on Wednesday as part of major reforms on the management of the CBA. According to the proposal, the two teams would be training separately and attend different tournaments until 2019, CRI reported.

After the initial training period, the two teams would be merged into a single group that will participate in both the 2019 Basketball World Cup and the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.

The new president said that the plan will increase the opportunity to attract new talent to the national team, as well as giving younger players more chances to participate in international-level tournaments and gain needed experience.

As part of the proposal, two separate coaching staffs will be hired to guide each team. The hiring process is open to anyone who has met the requirements made by the CBA. The list of applicants will then undergo an open competition, with the final results being announced this month.

This is the first time that coaches for the national team are being hired this way.

Several names have already been floated as possible nominations, including Li Quiping, who led Xinjiang to the CBA championships, Zhejiang head coach Li Chunjiang, and Yao's former teammate, Wang Zhizhi.

Other reforms

Right after he was formally announced as the CBA's new president in February, Yao said that he would be pushing for significant reforms in the organization.

One of the first reforms the former NBA star announced was the change from the traditional way players were recruited, China Daily reported.

Unlike before, where players are ordered by officials to joining the training pool, they now receive invitations with the option to decline.

Yao said that the change is meant to show greater respect for the players and will help increase their enthusiasm in signing up for the training program.

Yao noted that the new recruitment policy is modeled on the same one used by the United States in assembling its national team.

The women's national team was the first one to benefit from the new recruitment process in preparation for the Asian Championships in July.